Source Code Management and the New Age of Software Development

Note: This is part 1 of a Sweetcode blog post series about source code management.

We’re living in a radically new age of software development, which requires a totally new approach to the way we do many things—not least among them is source code management.

Below, I identify the ways in which software development today is far more different than ever before. I then explain why organizations today need to revamp the way they manage source code in order to meet the current generation of software development challenges.

This is the first post in a series that explains how evolving software development is placing new demands on source code management.

How Software Development has Changed

The enterprise applications you use today may be the same ones you were using five, 10 or 20 years ago. Yet, the world in which those applications live has changed dramatically in just the past few years.

Today, it’s no longer enough to release new versions of your apps every six months, or even once a month. You need to achieve ultra-fast time to market (or deliver continuously, in DevOps parlance) in order to stay competitive.

You also need to adapt to new deployment environments, technologies and challenges. Your app may have been designed to run on bare-metal servers, But there’s a good chance that, in the future, it will be hosted by Docker containers, if it’s not already. Your app also needs to scale seamlessly, since you can’t predict when user demand will fluctuate.

Last but not least, the security and compliance landscape in which enterprise apps exist today looks nothing like it did a few years ago. A series of high-profile data breaches at big-name companies and organizations has made consumers much more conscious of cybersecurity issues. Auditors everywhere are taking much closer looks at the way you secure your enterprise apps and data.

In short, enterprise apps have grown very complicated in a short time, even though the apps themselves may not have changed.

Surviving the New Age with Source Code Management

How can your enterprise continue to thrive in this brave new world of continuous delivery, microservices, state-sponsored hackers, and so many other challenges?

A key part of the answer is to revamp the way you store and manage your source code. After all, source code is at the root of all of your enterprise apps. You need a new, integrated approach to source code management. Your source code must be in sync with everything you do. Solid source code management is the foundation that will allow you to meet all the challenges that enterprise app deployment now throws at you.

Conclusion

In subsequent posts, we’ll dive into the details of effective source code management, and how it can help you meet the challenges of software development today.

Do you think you can beat this Sweet post?

If so, you may have what it takes to become a Sweetcode contributor... Learn More.

Chris Tozzi has worked as a journalist and Linux systems administrator. He has particular interests in open source, agile infrastructure and networking. He is Senior Editor of content and a DevOps Analyst at Fixate IO.